Washer extractors for laundry work



Sept. 22., 1970 D. c. FERRIER 3,529,448

WASHER EXTRACTORS FOR LAUNDRY WORK Filed Sept. 26, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DUNCAN CAMERON FIRRIIR INVENTOR;

p 2 1970 D. c. FERRIER 3,529,448

WASHER EXTRACTORS FOR LAUNDRY WORK Filed Sept. 26, 1968 2 SheetS-Sheet L.

INVENTOR: DUNCAN CAM R N FERRIER av g/wwm, Swim (S y United States Patent 3,529,448 WASHER EXTRACTORS FOR LAUNDRY WORK Duncan Cameron Ferrier, Almondbury, Huddersfield, England, assignor to Thomas Broadbent & Sons Limited, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, a British company Filed Sept. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 762,875 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 13, 1967, 46,699/ 67 Int. Cl. D06f 23/02 US. Cl. 68-24 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A washer extractor for laundry work has a reticulate cage or basket which is provided at at least one end with a hollow shaft or neck which is of less diameter than the diameter of the basket but large enough to surround a charging opening in that end of the basket and which is rotatably supported in'a water bearing designed to enable the load applied thereto by the charged basket to be sustained predominantly by hydrostatic pressure at washing speeds and predominantly by hydrodynamic pressure at extraction speeds. Thus the basket can be rotatably supported at both ends. For example it may be supported at its charging end by a Water bearing and at its opposite end by a rolling bearing, that is to say, by a ball or roller bearing. Alternatively the basket may be supported at both ends by a water bearing enabling an opening to be provided at one end for charging and at the other end for discharging as in a so-called barrier washing machine which enables soiled articles of laundry to be well spaced from and in effect isolated from laundered articles.

The present invention relates to washer extractors for laundry work wherein a reticulate cage or basket (hereinafter referred to as a basket) is rotatably mounted in a liquid receiving casing and is rotated at a lower speed for washing articles to be laundered therein and at a higher speed for the extraction of liquid from the articles. At the charging end of the machine the casing is provided with a door and the basket with an opening for the charging of laundry into the basket. The basket is usually supported by a shaft extending from its other end so that the mode of support of the basket is cantilever.

Uneven distribution of laundry in the basket gives rise to increasing load upon its bearings as the speed increases. Thus the bearing load at the higher extraction speed is considerably greater than at the lower washing speed.

According to the present invention a washer extractor for laundry work has a reticulate cage or basket which is provided at at least one end with a hollow shaft or neck which is of less diameter than the diameter of the basket but large enough to surround a charging opening in that end of the basket and which is rotatably supported in a water bearing designed to enable the load applied thereto by the charged basket to be sustained predominantly by hydrostatic pressure at washing speeds and predominantly by hydrodynamic pressure at extraction speeds. Thus the basket can be rotatably supported at both ends. For example it may be supported at its charging end by a water bearing and at its opposite end by a rolling bearing, that is to say, by a ball or roller bearing. Alternatively, the basket may be supported at both ends by a water bearing enabling an opening to be provided at one end for charging and at the other end for discharging as in a so-called barrier washing machine which enables soiled articles of laundry to be well spaced from and in effect isolated from laundered articles.

A hydrostatic water bearing is a bearing which is formed with a series of circumferentially spaced water receiving 3,529,448 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 "Ice cavities facing the journal, the cavities being bounded at their axially opposite sides by circumferentially continuous lands and being separated from one another by lands which run from one to the other of said circumferentially continuous lands. Water is pumped through orifice restrictors into the cavities to support the shaft. When such a bearing is run at high speed hydrodynamic pressures are generated in the clearance between the circumferentially continuous lands and the journal surface and in the present invention these hydrodynamic pressures are relied upon to assist in supporting the shaft when running at the higher extraction speed. In the present invention the axial width of the circumferential lands should be sufficient to generate a degree of hydrodynamic pressure over a land area which, in conjunction with the hydrostatic pressure, will be sufficient to support the greater load applied to the bearing at extraction speed.

The present invention avoids the cantilever mode of supporting the basket and enjoys the advantages that the basket may be made longer and can be arranged to run at higher extraction speeds.

The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a washer extractor basket constructed according to the present invention but provided with a water bearing designed to operate substantially entirely hydrostatically and which is not therefore suitable for the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken in a plane passing through the axis of rotation and illustrating a water bearing suitable for use in conjunction with the present invention and which operates largely hydrostatically at low speed and largely hydrodynamically at high speed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line III- III of FIG. 2 and to a scale approximately one quarter of that of FIG. 2.

The washer extractor basket illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises an apertured cylindrical shell 10 having an end wall 11 at its righthand end from which extends a solid shaft 12 supported by a ball bearing 13. At its lefthand end which is the charging end the shell 10 is partially closed by an annular wall 14 which provides a circular charging opening 15 for the charging and discharging of articles of laundry into and from the basket. A hollow shaft or neck 16 which serves as the journal of the water bearing extends from the wall 14 and surrounds the charging opening 15.

An end wall of a water receiving casing which encloses the basket is indicated at 17. This has a central opening 18 through which the hollow shaft 16 projects. A bearing housing 19 is secured to the wall 17 concentrically with the opening 18 and with the shaft 16 and contains a water bearing 20 formed with inwardly projecting circumferential lands 21, 22, 23, 24. A series of circumferentially spaced axially directed lands extend from circumferential land 22 to circumferential land 23 to form a series of cavities 9 between the lands 22, 23. Water is supplied under pressure through a supply port 25 in the bearing housing 19 to a manifold 26 formed between the housing 19 and the bearing 20. A series of orifice restrictors 27 lead from the manifold 26 to cavities 9 whereby the supply water under pressure to each of the cavities through an orifice restrictor. Grooves 28 between the lands 21, 22 and 23, 24 serve as collectors for water escaping from the cavities 9 between the lands 22, 23. Water escaping to grooves 28 is pumped back to port 25 through discharge ports 29 in the bearing housing 19. A water tank (not shown) is connected to the pipe line connecting ports 29 to the pump inlet in order to make up water lost by leakage past lands 21, 24. Sealing rings (not shown) in grooves 30 separate the high pressure and low pressure regions between the bearing 20 and its housing '19.

FIG. 2 shows fragmentarily the annular wall 14 of the basket and the end wall 17 of the casing.

A journal supporting ring 32 is welded into the opening 15 of the wall 14 of the basket. A hollow shaft or neck 16 which serves as the journal of the water bearing is secured to the ring 32 by set screws 33. A bearing supporting ring 34 is welded into the central opening 18 of the casing wall 17 and a bearing ring 35 is secured to the supporting ring 34 by means of set screws 36 shown in broken lines in FIG. 2.

The bearing ring 35 of FIG. 2 is formed with circumferential lands 22, 23 which are much wider axially than the lands 22, 23 of FIG. 1 and the cavities 9 therebetween are much narrower than in FIG. 1 thereby providing for a much greater buildup of hydrodynamic pressure at high sp :eds. The cavities 9 are separated from one another by axial lands 37 illustrated in FIG. 3.

In the construction of FIG. 2 the circumferential lands 21, 24 of FIG. 1 are replaced by water retaining rings 41, 42 secured to the bearing 35 by screws 43, 44. A thrower ring 45 is secured by screws to the outer end of the hollow shaft 16.

Water is fed to the circumferentially spaced cavities 9- from an annular manifold channel 46 (FIGS. 2 and 3) which is fed through an axially directed passage 47 (FIG. 3) in the bearing ring 35. Each individual cavity 9 receives water from the manifold channel 46 through its own orifice restrictor 48 which is screwed into the outer end of a radial passage 49 leading to the cavity 9. A larger radial passage 50 leads outwardly from the outer end of each radial passage 49 and provides a flow connection between the manifold channel 46 and orifice restrictor 48. Each radial passage 50 is closed at its outer end by a plug 51.

Grooves 28 in the bearing ring 35 correspond to the grooves 28 of FIG. 1 and are connected by a series of axial holes 54 which communicate with radial discharge holes 55 shown by dotted lines in FIG. 2. Discharge holes 55 are connected at their outer ends to a discharge manifold (not shown).

When the basket is running at low speed the Water bearing illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 will operate largely or substantially entirely hydrostatically with the water pressure exerted on the lands 22, 23 diminishing in the direction away from the cavities 9. At the higher extractor speeds the bearing will operate largely hydrodynamically to sustain the higher loading which results from higher speed.

In an alternative form of construction the right-hand end of the basket is similar to the left-hand end and the basket is supported by two water bearings as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 in which event the basket is provided with an axial thrust bearing.

I claim:

1. A washer extractor for laundry work comprising a reticulate cage or basket provided at at least one end with a hollow shaft which is of less diameter than the diameter of the basket but large enough to surround a charging opening in that end of the basket and a Water bearing rotatably supporting said hollow shaft, said bearing being designed to enable the load applied thereto by the charged basket to be sustained predominantly by hydrostatic pres sure at washing speeds and predominantly by hydrodynamic pressure at extraction speeds.

2. A washer extractor according to claim 1 in which the water bearing is formed with a series of circumferentially spaced water receiving cavities bounded at their axially opposite sides by circumferentially continuous lands facing said hollow shaft and water is pumped to each of said cavities through an orifice restrictor.

3. A washer extractor according to claim 1 in which the basket is supported at its charging end by a water bearing and at its other end by a rolling bearing.

4. A washer extractor according to claim 1 in which the reticulate cage or basket is supported at each end by a water bearing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 68140 

